Friday, September 11, 2026

Wall Street closed out the week with a decisive relief rally this Friday, September 11, as in-line inflation data removed a major overhang of uncertainty before next week's central bank meetings. The Dow Jones led the major averages, jumping 0.98% to 52,573.29, while the Nasdaq advanced 0.96% to 26,333.035 and the S&P 500 climbed 0.86% to 7,656.98. With August CPI matching expectations at 0.4% month-over-month (3.4% year-over-year), fear evaporated from the trading floor, sending the VIX plunging 11.21% to 15.84 and lifting the small-cap Russell 2000 by 0.45% to 2,903.944.

Sectors in focus:

• Tech and Hardware Lead: Printed Circuit Boards (+4.96%) and Wholesale-Computers (+4.56%) surged to the top of the leaderboard today. Stable inflation data and falling oil prices eased pressure on discount rates, sparking heavy buying in growth-oriented AI and hardware leaders. Electrical Industrial Apparatus (+3.69%) also caught a strong bid.
• Energy and Defensives Lag: WTI Crude fell 2.29% to 100.13 due to profit-taking and reports of potential diplomatic talks to secure the Strait of Hormuz. This pullback dragged down Drilling Oil & Gas Wells (-1.13%). Defensive and materials groups also struggled to catch a bid in today's risk-on environment, leaving Mining & Quarrying of Nonmetallic Minerals (-1.21%) and Water Supply (-1.19%) as the day's steepest laggards, while Gold slipped 0.40% to 4,389.7.

On the radar:

• Sep 15-16: FOMC Meeting and interest rate decision (markets currently price in an 88% probability of a rate hike).
• Sep 16: A vital economic data slate featuring US Retail Sales for August, alongside both UK and Canada CPI releases.
• Sep 17-18: International monetary policy takes center stage with the Bank of England interest rate decision on Thursday, followed by the Bank of Japan's rate decision on Friday.